The only carp I have caught on the fly rod were caught early in my transition from bait to fly angler. It was common practice among my spin fishing brethren to chum with corn when fishing for carp so I tied up a a fly that looked like a few kernels of corn using yellow chenille and did the same. While is was certainly an effective way to catch carp, it involved none of the precise presentation that these fish normally require. The few times I've encountered tailing carp while smallmouth fishing, I have not been successful.

marcq wrote:just a question about carping. in the spring I notice the carp get aggressive in a spot I fish for shad. do the carp get aggressive in the spring due to spawning? and if so how do you go about catching them? never really threw the fly at them did hook one once but didn't land it. they put up a nice fight might have to give it a shot this spring.

I am pretty sure that the aggressive nature that you see in the spring of year is part of their spawning ritual. My experience is they are next to impossible to catch when they are in that mode. I watched three medium size carp chasing a large carp up and down a stream last spring for about 30 minutes. It was kind of like a big frothing ball of wrestling carp going up and down the stream (all around the pools and rolling through the riffles) and they really covered some turf. It was really neat to watch. My most productive time to actually hook up with them is when they are "mudding", particularly in the very early morning usually later in the season.

Marc I checked a couple places the other day where i usually see a decent amount and saw only two, Ive caught them as early as march and as late as November. We should get a carp jam going in the spring